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Harm Reduction Injection Complications FAQ and Mega Thread

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pillpopper187 said:
how long does the bruising last?
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depending on what type of bruising it is. i acquired a small lump from what i believe from hitting a valve the other week and immediately after my shot i rinsed the mark under hot water for a few minutes which allows whatever drug missed to help absorb as much as possible at the time. massaging the spot periodically will also help with this. in this case my mark last 2-3days tops.

other bruises from bigger missed shots like SC, IM etc are prone to stay around longer with the possibility to become an abscess. generally in these cases there is going to be some kind of lump and hardness. again, a hot compress, and massaging will help, not cure it though. vitamine e oils, aloe vera, neosporin, rubbing alcohol etc all help keep the sight sterile.


how long does the hardness last?
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this will depend on the severity of the missed shot and generally means you've IM'd your shot. a good idea is to get a marker pen and draw a circle around it and monitor the size and the redness over the next few days. if it grows larger outside the circle its time to seek medical advice ASAP, there's no other advice to be given here. and if the redness continues to get worse and gets more painful in time go to an ER, dont go doing the home draining by sticking a needle in and drawing out the puss or whatever if its an infected abscess.


how long do track marks take to fade away?
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this is all speculation, really, case by case dependent. what kind of track marks exactly? like scarred up, inch long marks on your vein? or a simple dot after an injection?

i've had an inch long mark up the crook of my elbow which took a few months to fully heal. i was applying aloe vera, vit e oils, taking vit B supplements and getting plenty of sun. the larger track marks are scarring of the skin which will take a lot longer to come better than just a few single injections over the place. rotate vein sites to avoid this


any type of skin cream to speed up the healing process?
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aloe vera, vitamin e oils, neosporin, rubbing alcohol, there's plenty.


what type of make up to use if you have a good bit of them on your inner arm and top of your hands?
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i'd avoid hitting in the hands altogether like capt heroin said. if you have to though, some kind of concealer would work well. i know my friend has used some concealer his gf uses and it helped cover up his marks well when he didnt need them to be showing. anything remotely close to skin colour. avoid spray tan:p

i edited out a few unneeded remarks, please keep this on topic, guys:)
 
When I took the shot I registered dark blood, as was to be expected, and all seemed fine and dandy. Then later, no high, a tad bit of swelling, and that's it.

Reading some posts got me freaked out a bit, but since they're all so goddamn varying, and I don't know who's actually trustworthy and knowledgable, I thought I'd ask someone who's been a reliable source of good facts.

Can you give me any pointers here? Since it wasn't/isn't painful, I'm not really stressing, but I'd like to have a peace of mind, ya know? Please respond ASAP if you get this. Any words of wisdom would be great!

(PS, i've copied and pasted this several times at this point, to several different folks, and now, 20-30 mins after first writing it, it seems that what little swelling there was has now nearly completely subsided, and it's not so numb any more. Still no pain really) Now I just feel highish and noddy/tired.
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Copied from a pm I recently received. This is a common issue, so I figured I'd post it here. Feel free to add any info.

phrozen said:
Sounds like a partial miss. You registered, and probably slipped out or through the vein during the shot. It doesn't always burn, especially if it's just a partial miss. So you can't exactly depend on the burn to tell you if you missed.

The delayed onset is either a sign of not doing enough(obviously taking into account dope purity, your tolerance, etc), or again partially missing the shot. A miss, or a partial miss, is essentially a SC shot. You'll get high from an SC shot, but there's no rush and the onset takes longer due to absorption.

It sounds like everything is back to normal now, or nearly there. Keep an eye on it for a couple of days, and don't use that vein again until it has healed.

Good luck and take care.
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i often have to use my hands for shooting as i have no good veins in my arms (might be that i'm too thin, i don't know, even doctors and nurses can't hit me there). i've never had any bad consequences, even when i've missed a bit, and i don't think it's a bad idea to use those veins because no one seems to notice/look for track marks there, especially in the top of the wrists.
 
InHerOwnWrite said:
i often have to use my hands for shooting as i have no good veins in my arms (might be that i'm too thin, i don't know, even doctors and nurses can't hit me there). i've never had any bad consequences, even when i've missed a bit, and i don't think it's a bad idea to use those veins because no one seems to notice/look for track marks there, especially in the top of the wrists.
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Those veins roll really easily, and they're surrounded by a lot of nerves, bone, and arteries.

I'd advise you move to your upper legs before your wrists.
 
feast your eyes on this, we've saved you the trouble of searching;) it is what it is, so use it.
 
some ideas

Nice thread, good info. +++

I would add info on dealing with missed shots.

I rarely miss anymore now, but back in my newbie days I would miss HORRIBLY , and on the inside of my arm. I found that hot, high pressure water (or massage) helps it absorb A LOT faster. Going in the shower and aiming the showerhead on the affected area with water as hot as you can stand it will make it go down drastically.

One really handy thing i've found out is how much better it is to inject on the TOP of your arm (the part with hair) . In addition to being much less visible , the veins are easy to find, big, and the skin is a lot of sensitive. You can also blame the marks on scratches, as opposed to very visible track marks right on veins on your arms. The top of the arm's veins also aren't as readily visible either until you tie off.

Also something to add would be an explanation of possible causes of numbness after a shot. I've heard the explanation that numbness from a shot can be caused by hitting a nerve (and it hurts a lot). I've freaked myself out a lot the first few times that's happened. The worst experience was IV MDMA. My whole left arm went numb , either from the pure POWER surging through it , or a vein hit. Regardless, it was some WEIRD shit.

One final thing, as for coverage of track marks, concealer or foundation makeup works WONDERS. My favorite brand so far was the true match stuff, which somehow adjusts to the color of your skin. Just make sure to apply it all over your arm, just not on the areas only, otherwise it looks weird. Saved me a few times, from cops checking my arms, to having to work in summer and not wanting to look weird with a long sleeve shirt on.

STICKY! Make sure to submit this thread... i think BL is doing some spring cleaning pretty soon.
 
lump on my arm

messed up a shot of heroin

everything went perfects, i tied off found a vein, pulled the plunger and...

blood, so i pressed down on the plunger and drew back the needle. to my horror copious amounts of blood squirted out and there was a huge lump on my fore arm,why had this happened: i had left the tourniquet ( a fucking pair of rubber bands, i had already gotten too high to realize this was a dumb idea) on while injecting, hence building up enormous pressure in my vein

usually a lump wouldnt be a big deal except that im sure i didn't miss the vein, the vein seems to end were the lump is and i can tell by the track mark that i hit it spot on

im worried that i may have actually burst the vein as it seems to have shrunk quite a bit and my arm feels weak

ive been icing it and swelling has gone down, somewhat painful but not intolerably so, if anyone knows how to help heal it so that theres no permanent damage i would appreciate it, im a guitar player and i dont want to lose use of my arms or fingers because of this

any advice would be appreciated
 
merging this into the Injection thread.

it sounds like you hit an artery for the blood to have come squirting back out at a force and i would think the lump would be from leaving the tourniquet on, like you said, and expending too much pressure in your vein which has probably caused a missed shot.

i'd honestly be going to a doctor to get that checked out
 
I know to always inject pointing towards the heart. An older guy hit me as I was pretty sick and couldn't register myself, but he insisted on injecting the opposite way.

No missed shot or anything like that and no troubles from it, but just wondering what the consequences of injecting the wrong way? Is it that big of a deal?
 
the pressure of the injection would have been going against the blood flow which could possibly have lead to a build up of pressure in your vein and in turn splitting it from that.
 
iv marks -help!! (is this normal?)

i had a really hard time hitting a vein and the syringe got pretty full with super dark red blood. i did that before and the blood had actually clotted on me. well, someone else finally ended up shooting me up and now i have a huge red line (the vein) that traces up to my elbow. im worried that this one clotted or something too and that i shot a clot or something and im going to end up with a pe or a stroke. am i totally overreacting and its just a crappy track mark or should i be really concerned about the situation?
 
Yikes! I wouldn't flip out but I wouldn't take this incident lightly. Try and reflect on this when you consider shooting up in the future. Its only downhill from here whether you believe that or not :(
 
I'd say you're acting just like I would in your situation. I would seek medical help quickly because you have no idea what it is exactly and that would scare me enough to get the help I needed. It may turn out to just be a track mark but from the sounds of it, it seems more serious than that, but I am no doctor so please seek professional medical attention and get it looked at.

-dp

Depression & Anxiety MEGA Thread - Depression/Anxiety Talk + Over 100 Links of Info
 
Don't take a chance with your health. If something seems amiss with your circulatory system, seek professional help immediately. The stigma of going to a doctor about a track mark is nothing compared to your life, right?

IMHO, if you choose to inject anything, you should first dedicate some serious time to learning how to do it safely. Sticking needles in your arm willy nilly is a surefire way to cause a lot of health problems. I'm not saying you don't know what you're doing - obviously I don't know you personally - but if not, hopefully this is a wake-up call.
 
Can you please post a picture? I cant even picture what your elbow looks like...

If the mark is really unusual, and/or causing pain / bad swelling, then you should see a doctor as soon as possible.

Actually, post the picture or explain it better so we can better help
 
I guess this would be a perfect example as to why I choose not to use needles. It seems too risky to me. Am i correct?
 
Hide my track marks

Okay so I gotta see my bf in the morning and i IVed a bunch of coke tonight. He is really paranoid and always checks my arms

Heres what ive done so far

Put tanning lotion on my entire arms,
Ice the shit outta them
use triple antibiotic ointment
and pure vitamin E extract.

I am gonna use some makeup but im afraid that will make them more obvious bc sometimes it does. What do I do?
 
ejarella said:
Okay so I gotta see my bf in the morning and i IVed a bunch of coke tonight. He is really paranoid and always checks my arms

Heres what ive done so far

Put tanning lotion on my entire arms,
Ice the shit outta them
use triple antibiotic ointment
and pure vitamin E extract.

I am gonna use some makeup but im afraid that will make them more obvious bc sometimes it does. What do I do?
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If your BF checks for track marks you're screwed.
Not to pry, but why would you hide your use from your boyfriend? I know when I used too many drugs I thought I was getting away with all my excuses and lies and whatever... but people are smarter than we give them credit for sometimes.
I can't think of any better idea than what you've suggested. Good luck
 
There really isn't any hiding coke track marks in my experience, only reducing severity. You've done what you can AFAIK. You said that he checks your arms, so my guess is he knows what to look for and will be able to spot em anyway. I'm also willing to wager pennys to piss holes in the snow that your demeanor will be suspect as well. Only thing left is long sleeves. My final two cent: Honesty and communication are essential building blocks for a healthy relationship.
 
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